I found Wales starting goaltender and captain, Simon Jones, relishing a new experience on Friday – standing on the sideline and cheering his backup, James Richardson, as his team cruised to another victory. Jones wasn’t giving anything away, but I reckon he was pinching himself periodically, just to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

The Welsh team capped-off a rewarding championships yesterday afternoon, beating Latvia 18 – 2 in the playoff game for 13th place. Not only was this the first time Wales won their two post-group match “play-in” games, but it was also the first time that the Dragons actually won a group game or finished with a winning record (4 – 3).

The highlight of the campaign was not this final victory however, but a  9 - 8 overtime win against the Czech Republic on Thursday. It is a testament to the work that coaches Martin Jackson and Gwynn Turner, overseen by Ray Harry, have put in with a squad that was nowhere near the Czechs only four years ago. Quality veteran presence on the field, always in short supply in the past, is now a team strength, with Goalie Simon Jones, defenceman Dan Funnell, middies Steve McDermott, Matt Edmunds and Tommy Gallagher, and attackmen Jamie Gallagher and Paul Simpson providing a spine around which the rest of the Welsh players could flourish. Keeping a team like the Czechs to eight goals is a task that talented young Welsh defenders like Rhodri Evans and Chris Bishop can now readily take on, and they along with many other former U-19s should form the core of this squad for the next eight years.

Player turnover has always been a problem in the past, and in that sense this championships could represent a paradigm shift for Welsh lacrosse – keeping players like the Gallagher brothers, Simpson and McDermott, who racked up 68 points between them would always be a priority in the near-term, but as any coaching staff will tell you, its much easier to do when you are winning.

After years of languishing in the shadow of an aging Scottish team, these new Dragons sense a revolution could be on the cards for Celtic lacrosse, perhaps in time for the next European Championships. The Scots should welcome such a challenge – it will be good for everyone.

ATJ